There is an increasing demand for treating skin defects for both cosmetic and therapeutic reasons. Such defects may be induced by aging, sun exposure, dermatological diseases, traumatic effects, and the like. Certain treatments include penetration of the skin surface to access skin tissue below the surface.
For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0239236, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes method and apparatus for ablating small holes into tissue using a laser, and then applying a further beam of electromagnetic energy into the hole that is formed in the tissue. The further energy beam can directly irradiate tissue deeper in the skin without passing through or being absorbed by overlying tissue by propagating through the hole.
When using such apparatus or performing such technique, the further beam can be directed into the ablated hole soon after the hole is formed. The hole may tend to reduce in size after it is formed based on the pliability of the surrounding skin tissue and the small size of the hole. Accordingly, it may be desirable to form small ablated holes in skin or other tissue where such holes can be maintained in an open configuration (e.g., prevented from collapsing or closing up) for a longer duration, e.g., on the order of about a second or longer.
Another technique for accessing tissue below a surface includes penetration of the tissue by one or more needles. For example, U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2005/0222565 and 2008/0082090, which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, describe methods and apparatus for delivering electromagnetic energy, e.g., radiofrequency (RF) energy and/or optical energy, to regions of skin tissue below the surface using a plurality of needles. The needles can be provided as an array of needles affixed to a substrate. The needles can be used as electrodes to deliver radiofrequency (RF) energy to proximal tissue regions. Alternatively or additionally, certain needles may include an optical fiber or the like that can deliver optical energy to portions of the tissue proximal to the needle tips.
One limitation of such needles or needle arrays is that the needles may be thin to facilitate insertion into the tissue, reduce the amount of pain or trauma resulting from the insertion, etc. Such consideration can be important when a large number of needles in an array are inserted into tissue substantially at the same time. However, such needles may deform or break when inserted into the tissue, e.g., arising from a lack of sufficient mechanical strength or stability of very fine needles.
One approach to inserting a plurality of thin needles into tissue can include ‘drilling’ a plurality of small holes using an ablative laser or the like, and then inserting the needles into the ablated holes. Such needles can be small because they do not need to pierce and penetrate the tissue, and therefore may be less strong and/or less rigid than conventional needles configured to penetrate tissue directly. However, such small holes may tend to close up or collapse some time after being formed, as described above. Further, it may be difficult to reliably align a plurality of needles with the plurality of small holes thus formed.
Forming small holes in skin or other tissue can also increase the permeability of the tissue, and may facilitate introduction of various substances into the tissue through the holes or allow fluids present within the tissue to drain out of such holes. In such procedures, it may be desirable to stabilize the holes or openings in the tissue thus formed to delay or prevent their collapse and maintain the permeability and access to deeper portions of the tissue provided by such holes for a longer time.
Therefore, there may be a need to provide method, device and/or apparatus that can facilitate a stabilization of small holes formed in tissue such as skin tissue. Such holes can be formed, e.g., by ablative or mechanical procedures.